Game 1 of the NBA Finals could have been an especially crushing defeat for a young Oklahoma City Thunder team had they not dealt with nearly the exact same scenario earlier in these same playoffs.
On Thursday, the Thunder led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before they became the latest group to succumb to an improbable Indiana Pacers comeback, losing by virtue of a Tyrese Haliburton pull-up jumper that fell through the net with 0.3 seconds remaining.
The loss was eerily similar to Game 1 of the second round, when Oklahoma City led the Denver Nuggets by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost because of an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer that sank with 2.8 seconds remaining.
Both games were largely dominated by the Thunder. And both times they lost after subpar late-game execution and game-winning shots coming on broken plays.
“The playoffs take you to the limit,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said after Game 1 when asked if Thursday’s loss was reminiscent of the Nuggets game. “They put your back against the wall, in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on.”
Thunder forward Jalen Williams put it more bluntly: “It sucks, but we have been here before.”
He added: “Regardless, if it’s the finals or Round 1, Round 2, you still have to win four games. We’ll take that and be ready for Game 2.”
How Oklahoma City adjusts for Game 2 will be interesting.
The Thunder, particularly defensively, did many things right Thursday. They forced the Pacers into 25 turnovers. They limited the scoring and assist opportunities for Haliburton, who was quiet before his final basket, finishing with 14 points and six assists.
Even when you concede that Oklahoma City was not crisp offensively (the team shot only 39.8% from the field and assisted on only 13 field goals), the Thunder still did not trail until 0.3 seconds left in the game.
One adjustment is a lever teams pull in the postseason all the time: Play better, especially when desperate.
Oklahoma City is no stranger to this. The Thunder haven’t lost back-to-back games in the playoffs, and they followed up that Denver loss with a 43-point victory in the series’ next game.
Another option for Oklahoma City will be to return to its normal starting lineup.
Notably, the Thunder pre-adjusted to Indiana on Thursday, swapping out starting center Isaiah Hartenstein for guard Cason Wallace to match up better with the smaller, quicker Pacers. As a result, both Hartenstein and big man Chet Holmgren had smaller roles in the rotation, each playing fewer minutes than their playoff average so far.
“We’ve been pretty fluid with the lineup throughout the course of the season,” Daigneault said. “Cason started 40-something games. We changed the lineup a million times. We haven’t in the playoffs. That’s why we do it during the regular season, so that it’s not earth-shattering when we do it.”
He added: “We’ll see how the series goes. We have a lot of optionality. We’ll look at everything. We’ll look at anything we can to try to give ourselves the best chance to win.”
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Oklahoma City’s new starting five ultimately outscored the Pacers by only 2 points in 16 minutes in Game 1. Meanwhile, Hartenstein and Holmgren didn’t share the floor together for a single possession.
Whatever the Thunder decide to switch up (if anything) for Game 2, they did not seem overly distraught after such a shocking defeat Thursday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander even offered a similar refrain to what he said after the Game 1 loss to Denver.
“The series isn’t first to one, it’s first to four,” the MVP said, before adding: “It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science.”
